US
scientists believe they could use brain stem cells to cure
diabetes.
Although the work is not yet ready to be tested
on human patients, results in animals have been promising,
say the Stanford University researchers.
They were able to coax the immature brain
cells to develop into the insulin-producing islet cells that
are lacking in diabetes.
Eventually, these could be used for curative
transplants, the scientists told the journal PLoS Medicine.
Scientists have already been looking at using
stem cells taken from embryos to treat diabetes.
These are primitive "master" cells
that can be programmed to become many kinds of tissue.
However, there have been concerns that these
cells can turn cancerous, are difficult to work with in the
laboratory.
Dr Seung Kim and colleagues looked at whether
stem cells taken from the brain might work just as well and
avoid some of these issues.
Dr Kim said: "When you look at islet
cells you realise that they resemble neurons."
In some insects, such as fruit flies, the
cells that produce insulin and regulate blood sugar are also
neurons.
Dr Kim's team found that when they added
a cocktail of chemicals to brain stem cells, taken from aborted
fetuses, the cells changed and, although they were not identical
to islet cells, they were able to produce insulin in response
to blood sugar levels.
To find out whether these cells would work,
they transplanted them into a cavity in the kidney in mice
where other types of insulin-producing cells have been found
to survive before.
When the blood sugar went up in these mice,
the transplanted "mature" brain stem cells again
released insulin.
Four weeks later, the cells were still alive
and producing insulin and none had turned cancerous.
Dr Kim said, although it was early days, the
work suggested that stem cells could be used to replace islet
cells and free people with type 1 diabetes daily insulin injections.
Some patients have already received transplants
using islet cells taken from living relatives or dead donors.
Dr Angela Wilson, director of research at
Diabetes UK said: "This is an interesting result and
may provide another avenue to explore in our search for a
cure for diabetes.
"However, the work is in the very early
stages of development and has yet to be reproduced in humans.
"We'll certainly be following the progress
of this research with interest."
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